Here’s a Preview of The Food Network’s “In the Kitchen” AR app coming to iPhones

What it does: Lets you place and decorate virtual desserts like cupcakes. Allows you to access the recipe for the base dessert.

How it works: You drop a dessert onto a surface and are provided with a bunch of options that let you decorate a cupcake. A couple of things about this demo: First, it worked just fine and was very cute. A little animated whale and some googley eyes topping a cupcake which you can then share is fine. However, it also demonstrates how some apps will be treating AR as a “fun extra” (the button is literally labeled “Fun”), rather than integral to the experience. This is to be expected in any first wave of a new technology, but examples out there like KabaQ show that there are other opportunities in food.